2 branches, but same tree for library prototypes

One buildings is a hit, the other misses — but new library commissioner may go his own way

March 02, 2012|Blair Kamin

The Richard M. Daley Branch Library at 733 N. Kedzie Ave. is a large version of a protoype design. Ceiling trusses and interior columns are needed to accomodate the building's longer spans. (Terrence Antonio James, Chicago Tribune)

What should a 21st century library look like?

To ask that question is to conjure futuristic visions — of libraries that resemble sleek Apple stores; of librarians who stroll around their branches with computer tablets, and of robots that stack books in shelves, provided, of course, there still are books.

Such issues are no longer academic, not with a new library commissioner heading to Chicago, especially one from digitally-savvy San Francisco.

The debut of new library commissioner Brian Bannon, who is expected to start this month, gives Chicago a chance to think afresh about its libraries — and how good design can uplift the experience of the millions of people who use them.

Bannon, it turns out, is no stranger to architecture. Before he became chief information officer for the San Francisco Public Library, he was the system's chief of branches. In that role, he managed a $200 million Branch Library Improvement Program that has so far renovated 16 libraries and built six new ones. The upgrades sparked increases in visits and checked-out materials.

Many of the libraries won LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, which suggests that Bannon should have no trouble adapting to Chicago's emphasis on energy-saving green design. He also appears in sync with Chicago's philosophy of turning libraries from imposing temples of reading into vibrant community anchors.

"At the core, it's about connecting people with information of value to them," Bannon said in January when Mayor Rahm Emanuel nominated him to replace longtime library commissioner Mary Dempsey after the two battled over the mayor's plan to cut library branch hours and staff.

Yet there's a crucial difference between the Chicago and San Francisco approaches: New libraries in the City by the Bay are custom-designed for their sites. Not so in Chicago, where libraries, police stations, firehouses, park field houses and most public schools follow "prototype" designs that replicate floor plans and facades all over the city with only slight variations.

Since 1997, the Public Building Commission of Chicago, which constructs buildings for Chicago Public Library and other city agencies, has built 22 prototype libraries, according to a commission spokeswoman.

I've never been a fan of the prototype approach, which tends to produce bland, cookie-cutter buildings more suited to suburban commercial strips than a city renowned for great architecture. But prototype proponents argue that there are advantages to standardization: Reduced spending on design and construction costs, easier maintenance because the buildings have the same interior features, and equal facilities citywide.

Besides, some prototypes are better than others, as a look at the latest generation of Chicago public libraries reveals.

The buildings — the $4.4 million Greater Grand Crossing Branch Library at 1000 E. 73rd St. and the $6.4 million Richard M. Daley Branch Library at 733 N. Kedzie Ave. — are architectural siblings designed to fit on sites of different sizes. At more than 16,000 square feet, the Daley library is nearly twice the size of its Grand Crossing counterpart. Both are single-floor buildings, in contrast to a two-story prototype library expected to get under way shortly at 6000 N. Broadway in Edgewater, with completion due next year.

The Chicago architectural firm of Lohan Anderson, led by Dirk Lohan, designed the prototypes after the Public Building Commission asked for new library designs that would incorporate the latest technology and energy-saving features.

If nothing else, the two finished libraries represent a great leap forward from one of the earliest prototype libraries, the bunkerlike Near North branch at 310 W. Division St. That building and its nearly windowless walls, which looked as though they were designed to ward off gang-bangers from the now-demolished Cabrini-Green public housing project, ignored one of the fundamental precepts of civic design: A public building should uplift the public realm.

Lohan and two leaders of his firm, Basil Souder and Michael Barnes, gave the Greater Grand Crossing branch a more noble presence with a tall, deeply recessed main entrance emphasized by a single, slender column and a sleek overhanging roof. Horizontal bands of windows and decorative brickwork complement this vertical gesture, ensuring that the library fits comfortably alongside its bungalow neighbors.